History

Construction

The first of the M5 motorway to be built was constructed as a dual
two-lane motorway (two lanes in each direction), with Worcester
County Council acting as engineer.Charlesworth, George (1984),
pp.135-140. This section, from Junction 4 (Lydiate Ash) in the north to a trumpet junction with the
M50 in the south, opened in 1963.Charlesworth, George
(1984), Table 7.3 - pp.100-123. The southern end was called
a trumpet
junction because of its shape: a 270 degree curved bend. There
were no other exits from this trumpet junction though room was left
for an extension to the south.

The dual
two-lane section between junctions 16 and 17 was built at Filton, near
Bristol opened in
1962, with Gloucester County Council acting as engineer which was
intended to replace the pre-war Filton bypass. This section
was widened to a dual three-lane motorway in 1969.

The section north of Junction 4 was constucted in sections, from
1967 to 1970 together with the Frankley services. Much of the northern
section beyond Junction 3, from about Quinton to its junction with the M6
motorway was constructed as an elevated dual 3-lane motorway
using concrete pillars.

The M5 was
also extended southwards, in sections, from 1967 to 1977, through
Somerset, to Exeter, as a dual
three-lane motorway together with the Strensham services.

The short section between junctions 27 and 29 was built in 1967/69,
by Devon County Council, as the A38 Cullompton Bypass,
with the intention that it should become part of the M5. The
termini for this section have since been removed, although part of
the southern terminal roundabout is now used as an emergency
access. It was developed to motorway standards, and incorporated
into the M5 in 1975.

Operational history

The section from Junctions 16 and 18 was illuminated in about 1973
as part or a wider policy announced by UK
Minister for Transport Industries in 1972 to illuminate the 86
miles (138 km) of UK motorway particularly prone to fog.
.

In the late 1980s junction 4a was built as part of the M42 motorway construction project. The route of
the M42 was decided as early as 1972 but, due to planning delays,
approval at the Bromsgrove end was not obtained until 1986.

The first-built section of M5, from junctions 3 to 8, was widened
to provide six lanes (three lanes in each direction) in the early
1990s. During this work the northbound Strensham Services was
rebuilt further away from the new junction. Junctions 7 and 8 were
also remodelled into a roundabout junction.

The Avonmouth Bridge, Bristol.

The
Avonmouth
Bridge was converted to eight lanes (four lanes in each
direction) in the early 2000s. Later, in 2005–2006, parts of
the M5 between Junctions 17 and 20 were widened to 7 lanes (four
lanes climbing the hills and three lanes descending the hills);
information boards were added and parts of the central reservation
was converted to a concrete step
barrier. During this stage of construction the M5 became
Britain's longest contraflow system,spanning between junctions 19
and 20. The M5 contraflow was said to be the most
complicated ever built in the UK as the motorway is on a split
level around the steep hills of the Gordano Valley; meaning four lanes plus an additional emergency
vehicle lane were squeezed into that section.Most of the
contraflow had speed limits of and required six speed cameras to enforce the speed limit
through the narrow lanes.

In 2002 a southbound exit for Junction 12 has added. The Highways Agency did not anticipate the
traffic flows through the junction and the resultant queues can now
extend back onto the motorway. This is because of an increase in
traffic from Stroud intending to use the M5 northbound. The
distance from junctions 12 and 13 is similar and traffic congestion
is heavy on the A419 towards junction 13 whereas it is usually
lighter on the B4008 towards junction 12. As traffic leaving the M5
northbound towards Gloucester needs to give way to this traffic
coming from the B4008, the queue on the motorway can extend beyond
the first sign for the junction.

In 2009 it was announced that the lighting between junctions 30 and
31 had been turned off between midnight and 5am to save
energy.

Features

Notable
features of the M5 include the four level Almondsbury
Interchange, between the M5 and the M4 near Bristol.Another is the
Avonmouth
Bridge that is often a bottleneck in heavy traffic.Beyond
that are the split-level carriageways, as the motorway climbs the
sides of the hills above the Gordano valley,
between Portishead and Clevedon. Junction 1 surrounds a surviving gatehouse
from the former Sandwell Hall.

The M5 follows the route of the A38 road
quite closely. The two deviate slightly around Bristol and the area
south of Bristol (junctions 16 to 22). The A38 goes straight
through the centre of Bristol and passes by Bristol
International Airport; whereas the M5 skirts around both of them, with
access to the airport from junctions 18, 19 or 22. The A38
continues south from where the M5 finishes in Devon.

Between
Junction 21, Weston-super-Mare and Junction 22, Burnham-on-Sea, the
M5 passes by an isolated landmark hill called Brent Knoll.